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History of UniKL RCMP

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Last Updated: 16 July 2019

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Universiti Kuala Lumpur Royal College of Medicine Perak (UniKL.RCMP) started off as Perak College of Medicine. It was wholly owned by the Perak State Government through its subsidiary the Perak State Secretary Incorporated (SSI). The initiative to set up the college was taken to enable the Perak State Government to salvage the defunct Asian Sheffield Medical College (ASMC) that ceased operations in October 1998 due to the economic downturn. Thus, P.C.M Sdn. Bhd. was incorporated on 18th February 1999 to acquire ASMC’s assets and to manage the college.

The Perak College of Medicine was set up as a private medical college. The college started its humble operations on 1st October 1999 with the return of 28 former ASMC medical students from the United Kingdom and 7 dedicated staff members. RCMP started running the Sheffield MBChB medical degree program on a reverse twinning basis. The pioneer batch of 28 students from Sheffield MBChB medical degree program graduated in July 2002. However, the franchise agreement ended in 2005. There was no further intake of students after 2000 due to the policy changes made by GMC (UK) which no longer recognized medical degrees offered outside of Europe.

Despite being very new to the industry, Perak College of Medicine was honoured to be appointed as one of the medical centres to conduct a five-year research project entitled “Building Evidence-Based Research and Practice in South East Asia: Impact on Pregnancy and Childbirth Care and Outcomes” funded by the Welcome Trust, United Kingdom.

On 15th March 2001, the then Chief Minister of Perak, Dato’ Seri Tajol Rosli bin Ghazali on his working visit to PCM proudly declared the college as a centre for medical education for the State of Perak.

On 7th November 2001, PCM signed an agreement with University Malaya to conduct the Medical Degree course (MBBS) through a collaborative Education Agreement. The collaboration was on a temporary basis until the college could develop its own medical program. The first batch of 11 students enrolled under the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery University of Malaya, MBBS (UM) program graduated in 2006. The collaboration with the University of Malaya ended in 2011 with a total number of 277 students graduating from the program. There was no further intake for MBBS (UM) program as Universiti Kuala Lumpur had by then come up with its own medical curriculum.

In July 2006, UniKL RCMP launched its new MBBS UniKL program. Under the new MBBS UniKL program, a total of 112 students were offered places to take up medical studies.

On 1st July 2001, UniKL RCMP embarked on its Diploma in nursing program that became the forerunner for the other allied health science programs in the college. The following year witnessed the first intake of students for Diploma in Pharmacy followed by Diploma in Radiography (currently known as Diploma in Medical Imaging) and Diploma in Physiotherapy.

On 27th February 2004, the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Azlan Shah conferred the institution with the title ‘Royal College’ and subsequently on 24th May 2007, His Royal Highness officiated at the ceremony marking the establishment of University Kuala Lumpur Royal College of Medicine Perak (RCMP).

On 3rd January 2006, Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) through its subsidiary University Teknikal MARA Sdn. Bhd. (UNITEK MARA) acquired the majority stake in the Royal College of Medicine Perak. This move enabled the college to enhance its status as a branch campus of University Kuala Lumpur (UniKL) in June of the same year. Today, the college is jointly owned by the Perak State Secretary Incorporated (SSI), MARA and UNITEK MARA through P.C.M Sdn. Bhd.

On 3rd August 2008, UniKL RCMP was appointed by the Malaysian government as the centre to train 40 Thai youths through the Malaysian Task Force 2010 and Thailand Task Force 960, under the Nursing Aid Program. The then Malaysian first lady, Datin Seri Jeanne Abdullah, officially launched the program.

Since its establishment, UniKL RCMP has produced over 4691 graduates in Master’s program, Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS UniKL), Bachelor of Pharmacy (Hons), and Diploma in Pharmacy and Health Sciences. At present, the college has two faculties namely the Faculty of Medicine and Faculty of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

UniKL RCMP has come a long way, having gone through various trials and tribulations that have only made it stronger and better prepared to face the challenges ahead. Lately, the college has sought to establish linkages with excellent foreign universities to promote research collaborations, offshore programs, academic and student exchanges as well as post-graduate research studies.

It is our fervent hope that the college will continue to grow and establish itself as a centre of excellence in medical education in Malaysia as well as the region.